Changing plans and reliving memories

Venetian memory -- someday maybe a return visit

A relative and his wife took off to Seattle last Saturday to go on a cruise to Alaska.

He doesn't mind changing horses in the middle of a stream. He said he had been talking to his wife about such a trip for awhile. But the price had to be right.

Up until a couple weeks ago, their plans were to go on a roadtrip to Yellowstone National Park. That is some 1,800 miles one-way from south Mississippi. During the course of early June, his wife had made preparations for such a trip and had actually started packing their vehicle for the journey.

I understand that the day before their Yellowstone journey was to begin, she was in their vehicle packing, when our relative yelled out to her to see if she would be OK on changing plans and going on the cruise. Seems he had been on the Internet and came across a good deal.

She agreed and started unpacking the vehicle and changed into the cruise mode and planned to leave the following week.

Apparently the price was right for the cruise. When dealing with the cost of a cruise, he always tells the cruise representative there is one main criteria on whether or not he will sign up and that is price, price, price.

Another serendipitous moment came, he said, when talking to the cruise representative. There was a matter of getting a flight to Seattle. Book the cruise and not get a flight. Book the flight and find out the cruise was sold out.

Decisions, decisions.

Usually, the cruise representative said, he didn't book flights. But this time, he agreed to.

And it was at a better price than what my relative could find on the internet site he found.

They are now three days into their adventure and we hope they are having fun. We will probably relive our trip somewhat when they return and tells about all their activities.

Eleven years ago we embarked on such an outing and had great weather. There was only about two hours of rain during the course of the whole week. Temperatures were on the cold side (back home it was hot and humid) and great.

As with a lot of people upon visiting different places, there is always the feeling of making a return trip.

We thought we wanted to revisit Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Paris, Italy and even Alaska.

Somehow it doesn't work out that way.

There are our favorites -- Great Smoky Mountains and the West Coast -- that usually trump other such trips.

But maybe, one day . . . 

Next post: June 28, 2011